Carlos Ruano Llopis (1878-1950)
Original Vintage Bullfighting Poster
July 1941
107cm x 53cm
Carlos Ruano Llopis was born in 1878 in Orba, Spain where he would become a celebrated painter and bullfighting poster artist. He began his career in a fan-making workshop to support his family. In 1909, he won the gold medal at the Regional Exhibition, allowing him to enjoy a scholarship to further his studies in Italy. From here onwards, he began to develop his characteristic bullfighting motif. This obsession with bulls was perhaps borne out of his own desire to pursue glory as a matador, an ambition he only curbed in deference to his beloved mother. The vivacity of his bullfighting posters became his trademark and, on one occasion, the prodigious matador Joselito “Gallo” even proclaimed, ‘the artist who painted this knows how to bullfight, even if he has never fought bulls before.’ Bright colours, movement and a sense of passion bring these posters to life, offering a uniquely Spanish charm.
This 1941 edition advertises a bullfighting event in Valencia, featuring Marcial Lalanda, Manuel Rodriguez Manolete – often considered one of the greatest bullfighters of all time -, and Manolo Martín Vazquez.
